Lotus races into the motorbike market with style

The bike is built from steel, titanium and carbon fiber. Photo:AFP

It will be available in a choice of liveries that refer to Lotus racing cars of the past. Photo:AFP

It has a V-twin engine and is capable of pumping out 200hp.. Photo:AFP

The Kodewa-built C-01 will have a limited 100-example production run and was designed by Daniel Simon, famous for his work at Bugatti and on the "Tron Legacy" motion picture.

It may have spent over two years in development, but if the first official pictures of the first product from Lotus Motorcycles are anything to go by, it was worth the wait.

In fact, the bike looks so menacingly retro-futuristic that many potential owners would be happy to snap it up if it were powered by nothing more than clockwork. However, if the specifications list is anything to go by, it could prove to be a serious performance machine.

Constructed from a mix of steel, titanium and carbon fiber, the bike is powered by a 200hp, 1.2-liter V-twin engine which delivers its power via a six-speed gearbox.

Of his creation, designer Daniel Simon said: "The design process of the C-01 was a labor of love, there were many challenges, ensuring that the bike not only touches your visual senses with its timeless blend of classic appeal and modern execution, but that is safe and ergonomically sound, was critical to me. We have worked hard to create a motorcycle with very distinctive features such as a clean main body, an extremely low side profile, a bold stance, a unique air intake, logical partline solutions and clean graphics."

The bike will be available in a choice of liveries referencing Lotus's racing pedigree, and of course, as with all vehicles this exclusive, a customization service is also available which, according to Kodewa, will be limited "only by the imagination of the client."

Although the C-01 will bear the Lotus name, it has been developed independently by Kodewa, one of Lotus's racing partners, in collaboration with the Holzer Group.

There is no word yet when the bike will be going on sale, but due to its extremely limited production run there is a good chance that every example has already been snapped up.